Tag Archives: Student

U.S. student, said to be in coma, released by North Korea

Otto Frederick Warmbier (C), a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea since early January, is taken to North Korea's top court in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo March 16, 2016. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo

By Eric Walsh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Otto Warmbier, a U.S. university student held captive in North Korea for 17 months, has been released, but a former U.S. official said on Tuesday he is in a coma and in urgent need of medical care.

Warmbier, 22, a University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, was on his way back to the United States, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.

“Otto has been in a coma for over a year now and urgently needs proper medical care in the United States,” said Bill Richardson, a veteran former diplomat and politician who has played a role in past negotiations with North Korea, said after speaking to Warmbier’s parents.

The family said they were told by North Korean officials, through contacts with American envoys, that Warmbier fell ill from botulism sometime after his March 2016 trial and lapsed into a coma after taking a sleeping pill, the Washington Post reported.

“In no uncertain terms North Korea must explain the causes of his coma,” Richardson, whose Center for Global Engagement had directly sought Warmbier’s release with the North Korean government, said in a statement.

Tillerson, at a U.S. Senate hearing on Tuesday, declined to comment on Warmbier’s condition. A person who answered the phone at Warmbier’s family’s Ohio residence said: “No comment, thank you” and hung up.

Warmbier’s release came as former U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea on Tuesday, returning to the increasingly isolated nuclear-armed country where he has previously met leader Kim Jong Un.

U.S. officials appeared to brush aside any speculation of a connection between Rodman’s controversial visit and Warmbier’s release.

A senior administration official said the Trump administration did not authorize Rodman’s trip. “This is him freelancing,” the official told Reuters.

The State Department is continuing to discuss the situation of three other detained Americans with North Korea, Tillerson said.

Since taking office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has faced growing tensions with North Korea, which has conducted a series of ballistic missile tests in defiance of U.S. and international sanctions.

Warmbier was detained in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March last year for trying to steal an item with a propaganda slogan, according to North Korean media.

“At the direction of the president, the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea,” Tillerson said.

Richardson, a former Democratic congressman, U.N. Ambassador, U.S. energy secretary and ex-governor of New Mexico, welcomed Warmbier’s release but said “we are deeply concerned regarding his health.”

U.S. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio said: “Otto’s detainment and sentence was unnecessary and appalling, and North Korea should be universally condemned for its abhorrent behavior. Otto should have been released from the start.”

“Our son is coming home,” Fred Warmbier told the Washington Post. “At the moment, we’re just treating this like he’s been in an accident. We get to see our son Otto tonight.”

(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Additional reporting Steve Holland and Mark Hosenball; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Marguerita Choy and James Dalgleish)

Arrest made in killing of University of Texas student

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – A 17-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the killing of a University of Texas first-year dance student whose body was found on campus earlier this week, a local television station and Austin police said on Friday.

The arrest came the day after the victim was identified as Haruka Weiser, 18, of Oregon, who also was studying theater.

“A suspect is in custody,” the Austin Police Department said in a message on Twitter. Police did not provide details on the suspect, pending a news conference scheduled for Friday morning.

Austin television station KVUE, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, described the suspect as a 17-year-old boy and said firefighters provided an important tip that led helped police make the arrest.

Weiser was reported missing on Monday. Her body was found on Tuesday behind the university’s alumni center, near the main football stadium on the Austin campus, which is used by about 64,000 students, faculty and staff. Police have not released a cause of death.

Police had previously told reporters they had a person of interest in the death – a man seen in surveillance video on a bicycle near where the body was found.

Weiser left the drama building on Sunday night, likely headed for her dormitory, but never made it there, police said.

Her death sent shock waves through the university community, which held a vigil for Weiser on Thursday that was attended by hundreds of students, and it prompted a campus security review.

Gregory Fenves, president of the University of Texas at Austin, said in a statement on Friday that increased police patrols will continue on campus.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Bill Trott)

Texas Cop Attends Graduation For Teen Who Lost His Parents

A Texas police officer went the extra mile when he attended the graduation of a senior who recently lost his parents.

Only a few days before Kazzie Portie’s high school graduation, officer Eric Ellison delivered bad news to the 18-year-old: Portie’s parents had been killed in a car accident. Without his parents to attend his upcoming graduation, Portie wasn’t sure if he would walk on stage. However, Ellison stepped in and encouraged the young man.

“I said, ‘You’re going to walk!’ Your mom and dad will have front-row seats looking down from heaven, and I’ll stand in their place. I’ve got your back,” Ellison told BuzzFeed News.

Portie not only received his diploma on Friday, but he also received a hug from Officer Ellison in front of a standing ovation from the audience.

“Seeing Officer Ellison there to congratulate me meant the world to me,” Portie stated to BuzzFeed News. “It was so nice to see that he actually showed a genuine care for me and my family’s situation instead of just being another ‘case.'”

Portie intends on attending college.

Nevada Teacher Bans Student Using John 3:16 In Assignment

A Nevada public charter school is under the microscope after a teacher refused to allow a student to reference John 3:16 in a project asking the students to describe themselves using a series of slides.

Mackenzie Frasier, a sixth-grader at Somerset Academy, is the daughter of a pastor and said she was proud of her Christian faith and its importance in her life.  She didn’t tell her parents about the incident until April when she discussed a leadership class assignment and said she was told not to use Christian references.

Her father, Pastor Tim Fraiser, wrote to the school asking for clarification on what his daughter had been told by her teacher.

“Can you please explain if this is true? Perhaps, she misunderstood you? Since I am certain you understand that this clearly infringes on my daughters/your students right to freedom of speech, I want to make sure we understand your instructions,” he wrote on April 29.

The school responded with a defense of blocking Christian expression from their school.

“When Mackenzie created the project with the expectation she would present the Biblical saying to the class, the matter became one of having a captive audience that would be subject to her religious beliefs. Had the assignment been designed to simply hand in for a grade, this would not have been an issue. Therefore, considering the circumstances of the assignment, Miss Jardine appropriately followed school law expectations by asking Mackenzie to choose an alternate quote for the presentation,” Assistant Principal Jenyan Martinez wrote.

The Liberty Institute is now involved in the situation and demanding the school allow Mackenzie’s Constitutional rights and to allow resubmission of the project with her Bible verse included in the presentation.

The charter school management company that runs Somerset Academy said they are investigating the situation.

“We consider the civil liberties of our students to be of utmost importance,” said Colin Bringhurst of Academica Nevada. “As such, we strive to comply in every way with the directives set forth by the U.S. Department of Education with regard to religious expression in public schools.”

Mackenzie told the Last Vegas Review-Journal she’s standing up for her rights to be a good example to her younger brothers.

Seattle Student Uncovered As ISIS Recruiter

A journalism student from Seattle has been uncovered by authorities as a prominent female ISIS recruiter.

Rawdah Abdisalaam reportedly ran a twitter account called “@_UmmWaqqas” that had over 8,000 followers.  The account called on all Muslims to join the Islamic terrorist group.

“This is all I do pretty much,” one post stated, which included a photograph of Abdisalaam’s laptop–sitting on an Islamic State flag—playing Islamic lecture videos. “My aspiration is to become like A’isha Radi Allahu Anha (the wife of Mohammed) in every sense.”

“May Allah bless our Mujahideen in Dawlatul Islam,” she wrote in another Tweet. “May Allah grant them victory over their enemies and bless the Islamic State!”

Friends of Abdisalaam were shocked to discover she was working with ISIS.  They say that she has fled Seattle and could have left the country. She also reportedly had contact with Keonna Thomas, a Philadelphia woman arrested earlier this year for attempting to join ISIS.

FBI Director James Comey said that social media is a growing path for the terrorists to recruit members.

“It’s almost as if there is a devil sitting on the shoulder saying, ‘Kill, kill, kill, kill’ all day long,” he said. “[They are] recruiting and tasking at the same time. … In a way, the old paradigm between ‘inspired’ and ‘directed’ breaks down here.”

Christian Student Who Shared Christ Suspended From School

A high school student in Everett, Washington has been suspended from school multiple times for sharing Jesus with his classmates.

Michael Leal, a senior at Cascade High School, has been suspended three times since September for his efforts to provide the truth of Christ to classmates.  He hands out gospel literature and preached at an open air school event.

The school says that Leal is a disruption and has threatened him with expulsion if he does not stop talking about Christ to his classmates.

Cascade High School attorney Michael Patterson claims it’s not because of the Christian content even though the principal of the school told Leal it’s “breaking the law” if he distributed Christian materials.

“At no time was Mr. Leal told that his distribution of material or his statements were inappropriate at school because of their religious content,” he wrote. “Rather, he was informed of district policy … and told that he needed to comply with it. He was also informed that he could not create a substantial disruption at school or school events.”

The Pacific Justine Institute is defending Leal and says that at no point did Leal harass any student or staff member and did not disrupt any event.